The CFPB has issued a statement regarding its supervisory and enforcement approach to Regulation Z billing error resolution timeframes in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the statement, the Bureau acknowledges that some creditors and entities such as merchants, particularly those that are small businesses, may be facing significant operational disruptions as a result of…

The CFPB issued two sets of FAQs that discuss assistance that financial services providers can offer consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

One set of FAQs is directed at providers of checking, savings, or prepaid accounts. The FAQs deal with an account provider’s ability to change account terms and the ways account providers can provide immediate…

For our webinar last Thursday, “Consumer Protection: What’s Happening at the FTC,” we were joined by special guest speakers Andrew Smith, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Malini Mithal, Associate Director of the FTC’s Division of Financial Practices. Chris Willis, Practice Leader of Consumer Financial Services Litigation at Ballard Spahr, also participated…

On May 6, 2020, the CFPB issued an ECOA/Regulation B “Compliance Aid” containing three FAQs that clarify certain issues related to notification of action taken on Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan applications. We understand that the Bureau provided the guidance in response to inquiries from banking trade associations on behalf of…

A Massachusetts federal district court has entered a temporary restraining order that blocks the state’s attorney general from enforcing the prohibitions on initiating lawsuits and making collection calls in the AG’s emergency debt collection regulation promulgated on March 26. The TRO was sought by ACA International, the Association of Credit and Collection Professionals, in its…

A group of banking trade associations have filed a “Petition for Expedited Declaratory Ruling, Clarification, or Waiver” with the FCC regarding how the Telephone Communication Protection Act’s “emergency purposes” exception applies to phone calls and text messages placed by banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions on matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic.…

Twenty-one state attorneys general and the District of Columbia attorney general have sent a letter to the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) “to remind them” of their legal obligations under federal and state law as well as under agreements between the AGs and the CRAs entered into in 2015.

After looking at how the 2008 financial crisis and its aftermath might inform regulators’ response to the pandemic, we discuss how collections, loss mitigation/hardship programs, and originations of existing products and new programs designed to assist pandemic-impacted consumers (including changes to credit risk/fraud models to address the pandemic’s effects) can create UDAP and fair lending…

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ABOUT THE CFS GROUP

The Consumer Financial Services Group is nationally recognized for its guidance in structuring and documenting new consumer financial services products, its experience with the full range of federal and state consumer credit laws throughout the country, and its skill in litigation defense and avoidance, including pioneering work in pre-dispute arbitration programs.
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